With wide spread of mobile terminals, information stored in a mobile terminal of a user faces a growing security problem. When a mobile terminal is out of control of its user within a short period of time, such as when the user leaves the mobile terminal in an office or a hotel, or at home, or loses the mobile terminal, if information on contacts, short messages, call records stored in the mobile terminal relates to user privacy, then chances of the mobile terminal being used by someone else will pose a serious potential threat to security of the user information in the mobile terminal.
A corresponding solution has been proposed in existing art to secure information in a mobile terminal. For example, contacts of a mobile terminal user are classified as general contacts and private contacts; and the general contacts and the private contacts are stored separately. When a private contact calls or sends a short message, information displayed on an interface of a mobile terminal is hidden or ciphered. Alternatively, based on a preset mode of displaying a contact, information on a general contact is displayed as plaintext, and information on a private contact is displayed in cipher.
With the existing art, information in a mobile terminal is secured by hiding or ciphering information displayed on an interface of a mobile terminal. However, when a user loses control over a mobile terminal within a short period of time, an existing method cannot stop someone else from connecting the mobile terminal to a computer via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) and stealing the information stored in the mobile terminal, such as by connecting the mobile terminal to a computer via a USB, and copying an information storing database file in the mobile terminal to the computer, and then to an unauthorized mobile terminal. Then, information on contacts, short messages, call records and memos stored in the mobile terminal of the user may be identified and displayed normally by the unauthorized mobile terminal. In particular, there will be a higher probability of successfully stealing information in one mobile terminal with another mobile terminal of the same brand and the same model. In addition, if a mobile terminal of a user is connected to a computer via a USB, then someone other than the user may acquire information on contacts, short messages, call records and memos stored in the mobile terminal easily using a PC (personal computer) side software of the mobile terminal.